Rappers start Word War 3

It may be the season of goodwill but battle lines were drawn as a Rutherglen high school took on pupils from other schools in Hamilton.

The pupils were only shooting from the lip as they faced each other in a competition which sees them pit their wits in a display of performance, writing and debating skills.

Trinity High faced teams from Hamilton’s Holy Cross High and Larkhall Academy in education resources’ annual battle rap contest Word War.

This was the third annual final of the competition.

This year’s topics for the battle rap debates were: Christmas is too commercialised, celebrities are a bad influence and the best education takes place outside schools.

Scottish rappers Darren ‘Loki’ McGarvey and David Cook, aka Emcee Solareye from Edinburgh six-piece Stanley Odd were part of the judging panel.

Rapping in teams of two, six pupils from each school aimed to deliver their sharpest lines with the greatest style.

South Lanarkshire Council head of education Tony McDaid said: “We are delighted to see young people engaged in developing their literacy skills in such a relevant and dynamic way.

“This is the third time the event has been organised for our schools by South Lanarkshire Council and each year we see an incredibly high standard of performance.”

The Trinity High School pupils involved were Olivia Devlin, Bethany Ferguson and Emma Stewart, who argued that celebrities are a harmful influence, and Morven McNicol, Malise Cullen and Anna Brown, who argued against the statement “the best education takes place outside of school”.

The winning rappers were Larkhall Academy.